Easy to ask question about county's savings account

Published 5:09 am, Tuesday, October 4, 2011

It was surprising to learn this past week that Midland County will have a reserve fund (savings account) of as much as $48 million after its final sales tax revenue check is received later this year.

The news raises the obvious question -- how much is too much?

Is it too much when your savings account is more than your annual operating budget (the county's is $46.6 million)? That will be the case for the county this year.

Should we hold all taxing entities to the same standard? Should we call for Mayor Wes Perry to increase the money in the city's reserve account to $80 million (the city attempts to keep between 28 and 33 percent of its operating budget in reserves)? How about a reserve account at Midland ISD in the neighborhood of $140 million?

It's a situation that in those cases seems far-fetched because they are. To be fair, Midland County Judge Mike Bradford said his preference is to have between $28 million and $40 million in savings (between 60 and 85 percent of the county's operating budget this year). Still, we believe Midland County's taxpayers are right to question the need to have so much in savings, because this year's total of $48 million can't be the new norm and between 60 percent and 85 percent seems high.

As we move forward we will be interested in how the community reacts and what impact it might have on commissioners.

Bradford made it clear that commissioners are the ones who weigh in on those decisions and on the budget.

"The members of the commissioners court were elected to represent them and vote," he told the Reporter-Telegram. "It's their individual judgment that makes up what the court does."

It is representative government, and these representatives don't have a problem using the reserves to complete funding of $40-plus million in capital projects like the Horseshoe or new Midland County Courthouse.

In the fiscal year 2012 budget, $15.2 million in capital spending from the reserves (much of it for additions and new development at the Horseshoe) is included. That money won't necessarily be spent but is added in to give commissioners the option of making those improvements, Bradford said.

Again, the spending is their call.

It also was the commissioners' call when instead of going to reserves, they asked the voters to approve a jail project after Sheriff Gary Painter said Midland County had outgrown its jail facilities.

And the community, at least at the ballot box, has little concern with the way they choose to spend their reserves and with the levels property tax rates are set when times are good in Midland.

In the end, only commissioners have control over that tax rate. And, yes, Midland County's is among the lowest in the state. For that we are grateful, but it won't stop people from asking how much of a surplus does the county need to maintain a healthy status that will protect the interests of the county. It also won't stop the criticism -- even from Democrats -- that we don't need a local taxing entity that hoards taxpayer dollars for pet projects and high-dollar causes.

And Bradford is right when he says the county cannot run an entire year of county business without collecting a cent of property tax. While it sounds good, it's not feasible.

Which gets us back to the original question -- how much is too much?

The community may not care about the amount the county has in its savings, and if that's the case, a new norm in Midland might have been established.

But if there is discussion, we expect the commissioners to listen, no matter how low they set the tax rate. That money in their savings is from the taxpayers.